Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

madam

/ˈmædəm/ noun, verb

Forms madams mesdames madaming madamming madamed madammed madame

  1. noun A polite form of address for a woman or lady. “Mrs Grey wondered if the outfit she was trying on made her look fat. The sales assistant just said, “It suits you, madam”.”
  2. noun The mistress of a household.
  3. noun (colloquial) A conceited or quarrelsome girl. “Selina kept pushing and shoving during musical chairs. The nursery school teacher said she was a bad-tempered little madam.”
  4. noun (slang) A woman who runs a brothel, particularly one that specializes in finding prostitutes for rich and important clients. “After she grew too old to work as a prostitute, she became a madam.”
  5. noun (India, derogatory slang) A hated or contemptuous woman; used as a general term of abuse
  6. verb (transitive) To address as "madam".
  7. verb (ambitransitive, rare) To be a madam; to run (a brothel).
  8. noun (Singapore) A polite form of address and title, abbreviated Mdm, used before a (usually middle-aged) adult or elderly woman's surname, full name or given name if she does not have a family name.

Synonyms

dame woman lady matron mistress abbess bawd lady abbess nookie-bookie whoremistress brothelkeeper ma'am gentlewoman brothel keeper

Etymology

From Middle English madame, from Old French madame, from ma (“my”) + dame (“lady”), from post-classical Latin mea domina. Doublet of Madonna.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A gentlewoman; --an appellation or courteous form of address given to a lady, especially an elderly or a married lady; --much used in the address, at the beginning of a letter, to a woman. The corresponding word in addressing a man is Sir.

Etymology [See Madame.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “madam”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “madam” (best matches first).